Prophecies of Ash: Cinis, the volcano and obsidian

Prophecies of Ash, the first gameplay DLC, came out on 30 April alongside patch 1.5. It enlarges Latium, adds a volcano that both hurts and helps you, and brings one new resource with two production chains. It works with an existing save, so you don't have to start over.

Cinis and five more islands

Latium grows northwards with an extra belt of islands, including five new ones: three medium and two small, marked by old lava, hot springs and black sand.

In the far north lies Cinis, the largest island in any Anno so far, with more than twice the building space of the base game's biggest. Its cliffs and rivers split it into separate areas and give it plenty of river and mountain slots. You can start a new game there, or sail north and claim it later. A setting decides whether AI rivals may settle it, though a rival can still take it from you in a war.

The volcano

The volcano stands inland, behind the building area, so its lava stays away from your city. The rocks it throws do not. It runs through four stages:

• Tremors: some buildings may get damaged. After this, it either calms down or erupts.
• Eruption: rocks hit buildings, land units and ships all over Latium, and every mine and quarry in the province stops.
• Volcanic winter: farms and fisheries lose 75% of their productivity, and all buildings lose 3 happiness, health and fire safety. Obsidian deposits fill up again.
• Bloom: farms get a productivity boost, and the province gains 2 happiness.

Eruptions come 8 to 15 hours apart, and an eruption plus its winter lasts at most 140 minutes. Each one also raises Latium's soil level, worth 10% farm productivity per level: up to level 3 at first, and level 5 with research.

If you only want the building space, you can switch eruptions off at any time, and back on again. You then lose the bloom and, once the deposits are empty, your obsidian, and the soil level falls one step each time an eruption would have come.

Obsidian

After research in the DLC's discovery tree, quarries and pits across Latium produce Obsidian as a by-product until their deposit runs out. Every eruption refills the deposits and raises the amount you get. Some of the fallen rocks hold a little too: click them, or send a ship for the ones that land in the sea.

It goes into two new goods, which research also lets you ship to Albion:

• Statuettes, made from obsidian and Limestone, meet a household need of both Equites and Patricians once unlocked.
• Latrunculi Sets, a Roman board game made from Gold, Sandarac Wood and obsidian, meet a culture need of Patricians.

Caecilia

Caecilia, an oracle, lives in a village on the west side of Cinis. Her quests explain the volcano and the island's past, and you can skip them. She is also a trader who accepts nothing but obsidian. She sells more than 40 specialists, all of them about fertility, such as the

, who adds 75% Sturgeon fertility to hatcheries in range, and

Caderina, Of Extraordinary Prospects

Caderina, Of Extraordinary Prospects

Legendary Nature

Prophecies of Ash

Silver Mine in range

• Productivity+25%
• Additional fertility: Silver Deposit+100%

Boost

Wades in with the workers

Requires Wader Residence ≥ 150

• Productivity+50%
• Additional fertility: Silver Deposit+100%

Sold by

• 

, who adds 100% silver fertility and 25% productivity to Silver Mines in range.

Vulcan

The Cult of Vulcan discovery unlocks a new deity, who can be worshipped on any island. His followers make mountain slot buildings more productive and get more workforce out of residences. As his worship spreads across your empire, you also gain better fire safety, then coal mines, and finally strong area boosts for smelters.